Writing about the budget commission that came from the deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, Klein noted that ever such commission has failed since 2010, and that Democrats need to change their tune for this one to be any different.

“Democrats should admit the obvious,” Klein said. “For the time being, they’ve lost on taxes. And you know what? That’s okay. At least, it could be, if they were willing to admit it and smartly negotiate the terms of their surrender.”

Quite a surprise position, coming from someone who consistently advocates for higher taxes.

But don't be fooled. The reason Klein gives for Democrats needing to give up on higher taxes is not because they're a bad idea, but because Republicans would rather crash the economy than raise taxes.

Still, if Democrats finally let go of their obsession with higher taxes in exchange for any kind of government reform, maybe then the two parties could work together on cutting spending and true tax reform.